Wednesday in Hawkville

WORD OF THE DAY
Biorhythms. As in, don’t broach the topic with Mike Holmgren.

The Seahawks coach doesn’t want to hear about that – or any other intangibles, for that matter – as his team prepares for the latest venture into its dread zone: The Eastern time zone.

The Seahawks play the defending Super Bowl champion Giants at Giants Stadium on Sunday, and no one has to remind Holmgren that they are 10-18 under him when traveling to the East Coast – including the 34-10 implosion at Buffalo in their season opener.

“I hit that head-on Monday and then said, ‘I’ve talked about it,’ ” Holmgren offered during his noon press conference. “It’s mentioned every time we go to the East Coast, if we lose the football game.

“And the simple fact is, that it has not a single thing to do with sleep levels or anything. Nothing. It’s that we fumble the ball. We played a lousy game against Buffalo.

“Anybody that gets too concerned about your biorhythms, and your seat on the plane and all that stuff, it’s a bunch of bunk.”

PLAYER OF THE DAY
Darryl Tapp. It was a good news/bad news development during the 70-minute full-pads practice. Yes, Tapp plays in the defensive end rotation for the Seahawks.

But today, his best plays came while filling the role of Giants defensive end Justin Tuck on the scout team that works against the Seahawks offense.

During a running drill, Tapp pushed right tackle Sean Locklear into running back T.J. Duckett. Later, during a passing drill, Tuck, er, Tapp tipped a Matt Hasselbeck pass at the line.

PLAYS OF THE DAY
Offense: On a play that began with Deion Branch going in motion, he turned and reached back to make a nice grab of a pass from Hasselbeck. Branch also made a slightly over-the-shoulder catch of a Hasselbeck pass for a touchdown.

Defense: Cornerback Marcus Trufant used a nice read and an even better reaction to tip away a pass.

Special teams: The most notable play was Olindo Mare missing right wide on his final field goal attempt, because a Mare miss is so unusual. But the best play was Mare converting the kick just before his rare miss, as holder Jon Ryan handled a high snap from Jeff Robinson to allow Mare to split the uprights.

INJURY REPORT
Now this is news: Every member of the 53-man roster participated in practice – a first this season.

Running back Maurice Morris (knee) and wide receiver Koren Robinson (knee) were limited, but they did practice.

For the Giants, wide receiver Mario Manningham (illness) did not practice and defensive end Jerome McDougle (knee) was limited. Manningham was hospitalized Tuesday, but coach Tom Coughlin said today that he is hopeful the wide receiver will be able to practice tomorrow.

POSITION WATCH
Wide receiver, of course. With all hands on deck, it’s a matter of who will play where – and how much.

In practice, Billy McMullen remained the starting split end, with Branch getting the most work at flanker and Bobby Engram sliding into his familiar spot in the slot. Keary Colbert worked at all three positions, while rookie Michael Bumpus got limited snaps in the slot.

Robinson was limited, but worked at split end when on the field. The odd-man-out remained Courtney Taylor, who worked exclusively on the scout team.

“We’re a little heavy at the position in numbers,” Holmgren said of having seven wide-outs when only five will be active for the game. “But I have to see how Branch practices. I have to see how Engram practices.

“If all the players, we feel, can play in the game, then in all likelihood we have to do something there – because it’s unfair to some of the other positions. But if it does happen, that’ll be at the end of the week.”

QUOTE UNQUOTE
“It’ll be nice playing the Seattle Seahawks at home, not having to get on that plane, fly out there and not having to deal with their crowd noise. My only request is that our fans return the favor and bring their noisemakers and do their part to get them to have 15 false starts.” – Giants center Shaun O’Hara, to the Star Ledger